Identifying and analyzing effective factors on the role of public space in sustainability of urban environment Case Study: a coastal area in Ahvaz - Iran)

Abstract. As the heart of urban and social life, urban spaces are the main element in city identification and developing its culture and citizen’s relations, therefore the city as the context of human life should be full of social arenas for social and human interactions in order to raise human creativity, create a shared public memory and sense of belonging to space. In addition positioning and planning public spaces in cities regarding the concept of sustainability that means durability in attracting citizens and their presence in the city during some time ensures social sustainability of urban space; but it is important to match the urban public spaces with the needs and demands of citizens and also pay attention to the quality of the physical and functional spaces in order to define and create various cultural and social events. In this study which has been conducted using qualitative approach and survey – correlation method attempts have been made to get more reliable results after reviewing the theoretical issues with testing indicators in the form of a case study; in this regard for determining the qualitative elements of public space that leads to creation of sustainable spaces, a coastal area in Ahvaz went under assessment and after completing 380 questionnaires the SPSS software was used to analyze and prove the hypothesis. Results of this study show that planning public space offering optimal environmental qualities related to the security factor will have a direct effect on relations of the citizens and the current activities improve the quality of human presence and city liveliness. Finally, with regard to the results of analysis for achieving the above mentioned goal, some strategies were provided to restore the spirit, liveliness, and achieve sustainable urban spaces.